WHAT’S NEW?

1. The outfield has been remade. Last season, the Giants started Pat Burrell and Aubrey Huff in the corner outfield spots, and it was nothing short of a disaster. It wasn’t just the defense that suffered, though. The team got virtually no production from the outfield before trading for Carlos Beltran. He has moved on, though, and this year, Melky Cabrera, Angel Pagan and Nate Schierholtz will make up the outfield. Cabrera had a career year in 2011 with the Royals, but can he continue to produce at that level? In his first six seasons, he had never been anywhere near the .809 OPS he posted last season. Pagan adds some speed, but getting him to hit above replacement level in the NL West will be a chore.

2. They have a couple of talented kids, but both bring questions. Catcher Buster Posey and outfielder Brandon Belt—two players the Giants hope have bright futures—both will figure into the Giants’ season, but it’s unclear exactly what they’ll provide. The team is counting on Posey’s bat, but he might not be 100 percent recovered from his ankle injury. He will get some time at first base to stay fresh. Belt has shown some power, but with Huff and Posey at first and the outfield crowded as well, the team isn’t sure where to put him. It needs his bat, though—since 2004, the best the Giants have finished in runs scored in the NL is ninth, when they won the World Series in 2010.

3. Contract status will be an issue. Rather than acquiring an impact offensive player, general manager Brian Sabean focused on signing pitchers Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum to long-term extensions. He failed to lock up Lincecum (his deal was for only two years), but the team reached a five-year, $112.5 million deal with Cain just before the start of the regular season. If the Giants are unable to re-sign Lincecum, however, they will have made just one postseason appearance while having that pitching duo under control.

PROJECTED LINEUP

1. CF Angel Pagan. There isn’t much power here, but in each season from 2008 to ’10, he had an on-base percentage of at least .340.

2. LF Melky Cabrera. Last season’s career highs in average (.305), slugging percentage (.470), OPS (.809) and homers (18) put a lot of expectations on him.

4. C Buster Posey. Season-ending ankle and leg injuries ended his sophomore season. His third will go a long way in showing the kind of hitter he might become.

5. 1B Aubrey Huff. He followed an .891 OPS in 2010 with a .676 in 2011. But Huff is in a contract year, so that might motivate him.

6. RF Nate Schierholtz. He has played in at least 100 games the past three seasons but has never been a full-time starter. Last year, he hit .278 with nine homers in 115 games.

7. 2B Freddy Sanchez*. When healthy, Sanchez is slightly above average on offense. He has struggled to recover from a dislocated shoulder he suffered last June.

8. SS Brandon Crawford. In 66 games in 2011, he hit just .204 and had a .288 on-base percentage. In six minor league seasons, he was a .266/.331 hitter.

*Expected to begin the season on the D.L.

PROJECTED ROTATION

1. RHP Tim Lincecum. There is perception that he had a down year, but a season with a 2.74 ERA, 217 innings and 220 strikeouts is impressive.

2. RHP Matt Cain. With his 2.88 ERA, 221 ⅔ innings and 1.08 WHIP in 2011, he is the perfect complement to Lincecum.

3. LHP Madison Bumgarner. In 2011, his first full season, he made 33 starts, threw 204 ⅔ innings and finished 11th in the Cy Young voting.

4. RHP Ryan Vogelsong*. Five years removed from his last major league stint, Vogelsong had a 2.71 ERA in 2011, but his 3.67 FIP indicates he might have been a bit lucky.

5. LHP Barry Zito. He made a career-low nine starts in 2011 and posted a 5.87 ERA. Simply put, he hasn’t been good in five seasons with the Giants.

*Expected to begin the season on the D.L.

PROJECTED CLOSER

RHP Brian Wilson. Last season, he wasn’t as dominant as he was in 2010, and a 1.47 WHIP shows that. But he still saved 36 games.

SCOUT’S VIEW

Strengths: “It’s always their pitching. They can throw it in the rotation, and they can throw it in the bullpen. They are so good that even a mediocre offense is enough to support those guys, and that’s what happened when they won the World Series (in 2010). When you have pitching that good—and it could make them better if they have some run support and don’t have to throw so many stressful innings—you’re always in the mix.”

Weaknesses: “They can’t score. They were awful last year, and I’m not sure how much better they’ll be this year. Buster Posey helps and maybe Cabrera will, too, but they really didn’t do much to upgrade the lineup. It seems like they are relying on guys like Huff and Sanchez to repeat their prime years, and I don’t think that’s possible.”

BOTTOM LINE

With the way the Diamondbacks have developed, the Giants don’t have enough offense to keep up. The moves they made in the offseason weren’t those of a team trying to win the division. Instead, San Francisco will hope its rotation is dominant enough to overtake Arizona, but a second-place finish is more likely.